Tape printing and cutting device



F. J. RQUAN ET AL TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTING DEVICE Aprjl 17, 1956 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 22, 1951 fa l I/IIIIIIIIIIIIIJTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII April 17, 1956 J RQUAN ETAL 2,741,982

TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTING DEVICE Filed Sept. 22, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2fiw/m/S IN fi a/r m "iii ATTORNEY April 17, 1956 J ROUAN E Z 2,741,982

TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 22, 195]ATTORNEY April 17, 1956 F. J. ROUAN ETAL TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTINGDEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 22, 1951 mm 52 RU Y mJ m Z 54 April7, 956 F. J. ROUAN ETAL TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet5 Filed Sept. 22, 1951 .INVE T R5 gage/5 Qua/1 4/ er aflaor/ 63 z 1 e.

ATTORNEY United States PatentO 2,741,982 I 1 TAPE PRINTING AND CUTTINGDEVICE Application September 22, 1951, Serial No. 247,892

1 Claim. (Cl. 101-227) This invention relates to printing upon tape, andmore particularly to tape controlling and cutting in relation to suchprinting operations.

The machines to which the invention is particularly applicable are knownas metered stamping or mailing machines which print value indicia suchas postage either on individual articles passing through the machine, e.g. cards or letters, or on portions of a tape which are severed to formindividual stamps for application to articles or packages which are suchthat the machine cannot handle them for direct printing.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide methods andmeans for so handling the tape that, cutting off of the next length oftape to be dispensed is effected prior to the printing operation. Inthis fashion the tape movement can be confined to a forward feed,obviating the supposed need for retracting the end of the tape from itscutoff position back to the initial printing position, or back to astowage position to avoid interference with the printing of cards,letters and the like, hereinafter referred to as articles.

A feature of this invention is the provision of a novel method forhandling the tape so that it is advanced to a ready position adjacentbut out of range of the printing mechanism in the rest position of themachine, advancing the leading end into range of the printing andfeeding mechanism and cutting off a length of tape before the printingbegins, then printing and issuing the tape length and advancing the newleading end of the tape to ready position at the end of the operatingcycle.

Another feature is the provision of a simple andefficient means forcarrying out the novel methods of this invention wherein the cutter islocated between the tape advancing means and the printing point so thatthe continuous tape is constantly under the control ofthe advancingmeans.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of a simple interlockassociated with the article trip mechanism for rendering the novel tapecontrol means ineffective to feed or cut the tape when an article hasbeen inserted in the machine for printing.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for holding a supplyroll of tape, which means includes roll holding slots so configured asto prevent tape breakage or spinning of the supply with the productionof loose convolutions of tape, which sometimes occur where feedinginvolves sudden starts. and stops.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front longitudinal section showing a portion of theprintingmachine according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial section of the tape control mechanism takenapproximately on line 2-2 of Fig. 5 but including a portion of thecasing, and illustrating particularly the tape drive release;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the device of Fig. 5, the

illustrated casing portion being shown in section, and illustratingparticularly the tape feeding drive;

2,741,982 Patented Apr. 17, 1956 Fig. 4 is a section taken substantiallyon line 44 of Fig. 5, but including a portion of the casing, andillustrating particularly the drive for the cutter;

Fig. 5 is a partial plan view to a larger scale than in Fig. 1 of thedevice of Fig. l with the casing removed and illustrating the tapecontrol mechanisms and driving means therefor;

Figs. 6 to 10 are diagrammatic sections showing the tape control,cutting and printing means and the position of the tape therein atseveral consecutive times during the cycle of operation;

Fig. 11- is a front elevational detail view of the machine with thecasing and parts of the mechanism removed, and showing especially thepower drive and both trip mechanisms; 1

Fig. 12 is a compressed end elevation looking from the right and towardsthe left in Fig. 11, the mounting portions being shown in broken linesand the manual trip lever being omitted;

Fig. 13 is a detail section taken substantially on line 13-43 of Fig.12; and i Fig. 14 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but with parts brokenaway, and illustrating the manner in which the tape feed is preventedwhen an article is being printed upon.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the machine of the inventioncomprises a base unit 11 above which is mounted a rotary printing drum13. in the case of a metered mailing machine, the latter constitutespart of a meter unit which is detachable from the base unit 11. Animpression roller 15 is mounted for rotation by means of a shaft 17,andis located directly beneath the printing drum 13; The impressionroller shaft 17 is suitably connected (e. g. by an intermediate flexiblecoupling, not shown) with the drive shaft 19, Figs. 11 and 12. On theshaft 19 is rotatably mounted a drive sprocket 20 which is driven byatoothed belt 21 from the sprocket 22 of the motor shaft 23. A suitabledisableable one-way clutch mechanism 24 normally connects the sprocket20 and the shaft 19 for driving rotation in a forward direction. Theprinting drum 13 is also driven from the shaft 19 by a gear 25 fixedthereon and meshing with gear 26 connected to the printing drum. Thegearing 25, 26 may have any suitable ratio, corresponding to therotation ratio of the impression roller 15 and printing drum 13, and inthe form shown the gear 25 rotates three times for each rotation of thegear 26. Associated with the drive mechanism for shaft 19 is a stopmechanism which is not shown in detail but includes the gear 27 fixed toshaft 19, and stop arm 28 fixed to the rock shaft 29 and positioned formovement into the path of a projection on a stop disk 30 fordisconnecting the clutch 24. Suitable gearing (not shown), driven by thegear 27 may be caused to drive any suitable actuator which makes onerevolution for each revolution of the printing drum 13 and whichthereupon rocks the shaft 29 into stopping position to disconnect theclutch 24 and cause the stopping of the printing drum after exactly onecomplete printing cycle (i. e. one complete revolution) each time it isstarted.

In order to start the printing cycle, the machine is provided with atrip mechanism including the dog 33 which is fixed to'one end of arockable operating shaft 35. A spring 37 (Fig. 13) urges the tooth ofdog 33 down into latching engagement with one of the steps 39 or 40 onthe stop arm 28. A spring 42, anchored at a suitable fixed point on thebase 11, tends to draw the stop arm 28 away fromstopping position,except for the intervention of the latch dog 33. Affixed to the otherend of operating shaft 35 and remote from the dog 33 is an operatinglever 41 provided with a cam surface 43. It will be seen that rocking ofthe lever 41 upwardly in Fig. 11 will rock shaft 35 and lift the dog 33,permitting spring 42 to withdraw the stop arm 31 from stoppingengagement with the pro- 3 jection on the stop disk 30. This permits theclutch 24 to engage and to drive shaft 19 until the cycle of exactly onerevolution of printing drum 13 is complete before arm 28 is again movedinto stopping position by the stop mechanism and the dog 33 again dropsdown onto step 39 under the influence of spring 37.

The operating arm 41 may be rocked by either of two tripping actuatorswhich can be used to start the cycle. An article which is to receivedirect printing will strike the article trip arm 45 (Figs. 2, ll, 12 and14) which rocks with its shaft 47 and arm 49 (Figs. it and 12)to draw apitman 51 towards the right in Fig. ll. The pitman is connected to asliding plate 53 which carries a projection 55 so positioned as tostrike cam surface 43 and rock the operating arm 41. If, however, aprinting on tape is desired rather than on the article itself, manualtrip means is provided which comprises a pivoted manually actuatablelever '7 and carries a projection 59 arranged to strike the cam surface43 and rock the arm 41 when the finger piece 61 is depressed.

Turning now to the tape printing aspect of the machine, and referringparticularly to Figs. 1 to 5, the base 11 carries a tape roll support,indicated generally at 63, and a guide plate 65 leading from the rollsupport 63 to the impression roller 15. An opening in the guide tableaccommodates a feed roller 67 opposite which is a spring pressed backingroller 69. A second opening in the guide table receives a rotatableserrated cutter element 71 cooperable with an adjustably fixed cutterelement 73. Between the cutters 71, 73 and the impression roller 15 aleaf spring retainer 75, mounted on the base 11 presses against theplate 65. The delivery chute 77 strips the printed length from theimpression roller surface and conducts the same to the delivery rolls 79and 81, which may be driven in any convenient manner, e. g. by a beltdrive from a pulley 82 afiixed to shaft 17 and seen in Fig. 5.

Tape feed Inasmuch as the present invention provides new methods wherebythe tape can have a unidirectional feed, no reversing mechanism isrequired and the feeding motion of roller 67 is obtained from the shaft19 by a chain of mechanism comprising a main tape control gear 83 whichis mounted on and drives a timing shaft 84 and meshes with the gear 85on shaft 17 to be driven thereby. Fixed to rotate with shaft 84 are acooperating mutilated gear 87 and geneva wheel 89, the gear carryingaxially extending geneva pins 91 and 92. Mounted on shaft 93, whichdrives the feed roller 67, are a mutilated gear 95 and a geneva wheel 97connected for movement together, the former cooperating with gear 87,and the latter with the geneva 89 and pins 91 and 92. The gear 83 andshaft 84 are designed to make one complete continuous revolution perprinting cycle as does the printing drum 13, and the gear 87 and genevawheel 89 rotate continuously with shaft 84. The gear 87 has a shorttoothed portion 87a and a longer toothed segment 87b adapted to engagethe short portion 95a and the long segment 95b respectively of the gear95. Thus the shaft 93 and its attached parts will norm ally be rotatedthrough one complete revolution for each revolution of shaft 84, but themotion will be intermittent with periods of dwell interspersed, theshaft 93 being held against rotation during such periods by the chokingaction of the geneva movement 89, 97. A gear 99 on shaft 93 meshes withgear 101 connected to the backing roller 69, and their ratio isappropriately selected with respect to the feed roll and backing rolldiameters so that an equal forward feeding movement of the roll surfacesresult, and the backing roll 69 moves whenever the feed roll 67 isrotated.

Cutter drive Also fixed to the shaft 84 with gear 87 and geneva 89,

are a mutilated cutter drive gear 103 (Fig. 4) and a choke plate 105.The gear 103 is designed to mesh with an unmutilated gear 107 fixed toshaft 109 which carries the rotary cutter member 71. Shaft 109 also hasfixed thereto a disk 111 which is provided with a peripheral recess 113for engagement with the choke plate 105. The toothed segment of gear 103is so disposed that the gear 107 and cutter 71 are rotated only when thetape feed roller is held stationary by the geneva movement 89, 97, andthe length of the segment of gear 103 is such as to turn the gear 107through one revolution. At such times as the gear 107 is not beingturned, the choke engages in the recess 113 and prevents movement ofcutter 71.

Disabling of tape feed by article trip When an article A such as a cardor letter is inserted in the machine for printing, the tripping of themechanism by the article trip lever 45 would engage the clutch 24 andcommence the drive, and unless some means were provided to defeat thenormal tape feed operation, a length of tape would also be fed forwardby the series of elements described immediately above, including thefeed roll 67. By placing a clutch in the feed roll drive and making thesame releasable in response to the actuation of the article trip lever,this eventuality is prevented. This is illustrated especially in Figs. 2and 14 of the drawing wherein the gear 83 is shown as rotatably mountedon shaft 84 adjacent a clutch disk 115 which has a peripheral notch 117and which is afiixed to said shaft. A dog 119 is pivoted on the gear 83and has its tooth 121 urged into engagement with the notch 117 by spring123 which is also carried by the gear 83. Normally the engagement oftooth 121 in the notch 117 is suflicient to connect gear 83 with shaft84 to drive the same and the elements connected thereto. The articletrip lever 45, however, is provided with a cam extension 125 arranged toswing into the path of a follower pin 127 on the dog 119 as the lever 45is moved to tripped position as shown in Fig. 14. As the gear 83 startsto rotate due to the rotation of gear 85 on shaft 17 the dog 119 movesupwardly, but before it can drivingly strike the wall of the notch 117,its follower pin 127 engages the cam 125 so that the tooth 121 is cammedradially outwardly and thus withdrawn from notch 117. The parts areshown in Fig. 14 just before the gear 83 has moved enough to cam thetooth 121 to fully withdrawn position. With a slight further movementthe tooth 121 will be fully withdrawn and thereafter the gear 83 willrotate idly through one revolution without driving the shaft 84 or itsconnected mechanisms, and hence with out feeding or cutting the tape. Asthe gear 83 approaches the stopping position at the end of the cycle,the article A will have been fed beyond the trip lever 45 so that thelatter will have returned to the Fig. 2 position allowing the tooth 121to snap into the notch 117 ready for tape driving at the next trippingof the machine if necessary.

Tape supply holder A further important feature of the invention is thenovel tape supply holder illustrated in Fig. 1 which comprises a pair ofspaced upstanding brackets 129, only one of which is shown since theyare substantailly identical. Each of the brackets has an L-shaped slotconsisting of a downwardly extending entrance portion 131 and a slightlyupwardly sloping terminal portion 133 which projects in the direction oftape feed. A shaft 135 which supports the roll 137 of tape T is extendedbetween the brackets and allowed to rest at the bottom ends of slots131. The tape T is led from the back of the roll over the top and intothe nip of the tape feed rollers 67 and 69. A weighted friction member139 is pivoted on the base 11 and rests against the roll 137.

When a tape is intermittently fed with quick starts and stops, there isa pronounced tendency for the supply roll to hang back due to inertia atthe start of a feeding g p a stroke thus straining the tape and possiblytearing it, and to spin or overrun at the end of a feeding stroke thusthrowing loose loops of tape which are again especially susceptible totearing at the next start. These tendencies are greatly reduced by thepresent invention.

wherein the initial resistance to roll rotation is reduced by allowingthe shaft 135 to roll up the incline provided by slot portions 133. Thisavoids the necessity for overcoming sliding friction, thus giving aneasier, more gradual start, and at the same time places the roll 137 ina position of gravity potential so that when the pull on the tape T isrelaxed, the tendency of the roll to spin forwardly is largelycounteracted by the gravity pull tending to rewind the tape slightly bycausing the shaft 135 to roll down the slot portions 133 to initialposition.

Cooperating with the displaceability of the roll is the particularconfiguration of the friction member 139 which is so curved as toprovide a large surface of contact with a roll of full diameter when theshaft 135 is in the rest position at the bottom of slots 131. This isthe maximum friction position, and when the roll moves forwardly in theslots 133, the area of contact of the friction member 139 with the rollperiphery becomes progressively smaller and produces reduced frictionaleffect. Thus when the roll rotation is being started up and the rollstarts to climb the incline of slots 133, the friction effect of member139 is desirably reduced to permit a quick start, and when the tapetension stops and the roll settles back to the Fig. 1 position, thefriction is desirably increased to assist in the prevention of overrun.

While there is also some reduction in the area of contact of member 139with the roll periphery due to the diminishing roll diameter, this isalso desirable, inasmuch as the importance of the control exercised overthe roll decreases as the diameter and hence the rotative inertiadecrease. The friction reduction due to this cause proceeds much moregradually than the reduction due to roll displacement described above.Preferably the friction member is pivotally mounted on a cover 141 whichcloses the supply roll compartment forming part of the base 11, andwhich is hinged to said base 11 by a pin 143. The cover 141 thussimultaneously forms a closure for the tape supply and a guide plate forarticles being fed to the printing point. A stop 145 mounted on thecover 141 prevents excessive swinging of the friction member 139, sothat the latter is always held in the proper position for engagementwith a roll 137 while the cover 141 is being opened or closed. The stop145 also prevents contact with the roll 137 after it reaches a diametersuch that the inertia of the roll is insuflicient to require anyfriction control.

Tape control and cutting-Operation With particular reference to Figs. 6to 10, taken in conjunction with Figs. 1 and 3 to 5, the operation ofthe tape control mechanism will now be explained. When the finger piece61 (Fig. 11) is depressed, a manual tripping of the clutch 24 iseffected and the machine begins to operate with rotation of shaft 17,and consequently of the printing drum 13 and impression cylinder 15. Theinitial portion of the rotation produces no printing or tape feedingaction at the impression cylinder since the printing drum 13 is asegment (Fig. 1) and hence comes into contact with the impression rolleronly after about degrees of rotation from its Fig. 1 stopping position.During this time, however, the timing shaft 84 is being rotated throughits connection with gear 83. During the first 40 degrees of rotation ofthe shaft 84, the pin 91 and the gear teeth 87a drive the shaft 93through a partial revolution thus feeding the tape T from the Fig. 6position up to a position where the leading edge overlies the impressionroller 15 and is ready to be grasped for feeding forward and printing bythe printing drum 13 (Fig. 7). The next sector of movement of shaft 84amounts to about 160 degrees during which time the shaft 93 is heldimmobile by the geneva elements 89, 97. At the 25 degree point, justbefore the shaft 13 and feed roller 67 stop rotating, the gear segment103 meshes with cutter gear 107 and starts the cutter 71 rotating, sothat cutting actually occurs just as the movement of feed roller 67 andtape T ceases (Fig. 8) after about 40 degrees of rotation of the gear83. Thereafter the gear teeth of the segment 103 continue to rotate thecutter until it is returned to its initial ready position, whichoccupies the next 140 degrees of movement. During this time, andcommencing at about the 80 degree point, the feeding surfaces on theprinting drum 13 pick up the leading edge of the severed piece of tapewhich is being held in readiness by the spring finger 45, and feed thesevered tape length forward to print the desired information thereon.This movement goes forward and continues even after cutter rotation iscomplete at the 180 degree point and the cutter positioned and locked bythe choke engaging in the recess 113, the feeding and printing of thetape lengthoccupying about 220 degrees of movement from 80 degrees toabout 300 degrees. At the 200 degree point when the printing and feedingof the severed tape is about half completed, the toothed portion 87b ofthe gear 87 engages the tooth portion 951) on the tape feed gear 95,with the assistance of the pin 92 engaging the geneva member 97. Thenthrough the next 110 degrees, the tape T from the tape supply 63 is fedforward simultaneously with the feeding of the cut length at theimpression roller (Fig. 9). When the leading edge of the new tape fromthe tape supply has reached the ready position of Fig. 10, the gearteeth 87b are disengaged from the gear teeth 95/5 at about the same timethat the severed length of tape is fed out from between the printingdrum 13 and the impression roller 15. During the remaining 50 degrees ofrotation no tape feeding occurs, the parts merely being returned tostopping position in preparation for the next cycle. When this conditionis reached the clutch 24 is automatically disengaged and rotation of theprinting drum, and of the shaft 17 and timing gear 83 ceases.

From the foregoing description it can be seen that the operation of theinvention is exceedingly simple, for the leading edge of the tape supplyT on the roll 137 is never conducted beyond the printing point.Therefore the tape can be fed forwardly at all times with no need toretract the leading edge to ready position to avoid conflict witharticles whose printing might be conducted at the same location by thedrum 13, or to avoid waste of the tape between printings. The improvedoperation is brought about by the fact that the cutter is located aheadof the printing point and that a severed length of tape is handled forprinting instead of the leading end of the tape supply itself.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is:

In a tape printing device; a tape printing and advancing means; a feedroller having a drive shaft and disposed ahead of said printing meansfor transporting tape to the printing means; a mutilated gear fixed tosaid feed roller shaft; a geneva element having drive surfaces and stopsurfaces also fixed to said feed roller shaft; a rotary cutter having adrive shaft and disposed between said feed roller and said printingmeans; a gear and a stop plate fixed to said cutter shaft; said platehaving a peripheral stop recess therein; a power driven timing shaft;and four elements mounted coaxially on said timing shaft and connectedfor simultaneous rotation consisting of a mutilated gear meshing withsaid feed roller gear and carrying pins engageable with the drivesurfaces on said geneva element, a plate having surfaces engageable withthe stop surfaces of said geneva element, a mutilated gear engageablewith the cutter gear, and a choke plate having a surface engageable withthe recess in said cutter stop plate.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS Rouan et a1 June 8, 1943 8 Pequet June 8,1948 Hoppe Aug. 8, 1950 Wockenfuss Sept. 5, 1950 Ledig Dec. 16, 1952 UhlDec. 16, 1952

